A forum for the European wood and furniture industry, the 17th Jowat Symposium 2018 attracted more than 250 attendees to Detmold. This year, it took place in the new Innovation and Application Centre of the adhesives manufacturer from Detmold: The House of Technology opened its doors right on time for the series of events. The symposium was therefore fully aligned with the theme “Open doors for service that unites”.

Just over a year after the ceremonial groundbreaking in September 2017, the adhesives specialist Jowat opened the doors of its new House of Technology for the 17th get-together in the wood and furniture industry. Under the headline “Open doors for service that unites”, the Innovation and Application Centre welcomed industry professionals from Germany and abroad. The new building was finished just in time: The 2018 symposium was attended by a significantly increased number of participants, and the extended program with external speakers and practical workshops promoted an active transfer of expert knowledge from the world of bonding.The venue, the House of Technology with its “Building with customers” concept, provided a more than worthy framework for this year’s symposium. The lectures session was started by “lignotrend”, a manufacturer of cross-laminated timber solutions and just one of many companies that provided products for the construction project of the adhesives specialist from Detmold. The program was rounded off by further lectures focusing on doors – from the manufacturing of door leaves or frames, to “Appretur” finishing in lightweight construction. The session ended with an outlook on future-oriented research projects.The new 2,500 m² Jowat Innovation and Application Centre named “House of Technology” will house the enterprise’s Research Services including several labs, Application Technology for the clients, as well as exhibition and training rooms. Two machinery halls facilitate e.g. edgebanding, wrapping, flat and 3D laminating applications. In total, the House of Technology offers workplaces for 45 Jowat employees. Based on a glued laminated timber frame, the building also has a unique design: Outside, on the surrounding walkway, wooden beams symbolising adhesive strings connect the floor slab with the roof. With a span of 15 metres, the wood-concrete-composite ceiling is so far the biggest of its type in Germany.This year’s symposium ended with a ceremony in which Dr Matthias Hopp was presented with the Jowat Adhesive Research Award.